Word that used to play on repeat in my mind. And we’ve all been there: those moments where we just can’t seem get ourselves moving forward. Moments that sometimes feel interminable and go on for weeks, even months or years. Once you’re caught in the quicksand of fear and negativity, getting unstuck can feel like an insurmountable task.

It’s a relationship, or a job that is sucking the life out of you. It’s knowing that you want something more, but not knowing what it is. It’s staying in the same pattern, the old comfort zone, because that feels safer.

My bet? It’s not actually safe at all. In fact, it often goes beyond uncomfortable to completely immobilizing.

It doesn’t help, of course, when there are other internal factors working against you. Depression is a brutal, tricky beast. When chemicals and hormones are not in sync, being stuck feels like a death sentence.

The good thing is that if you can get just close enough to the light, you can start to get your footing.

You can begin to work through the muck.

It gets easier to breathe.

And eventually, you emerge – bathed in light and finally free to move forward.

The world lost a remarkable and very wise man in Dr. Wayne Dyer. This quote always spoke to me, even in times of anxiety and depression that felt completely impossible to unstick from. Because even from the depths, I could choose to believe that there had to be more than this. That I deserved better.

Depression, anxiety, addiction: these are not choices. People do not choose to upend their lives, to fall apart, to turn it black. It’s important to recognize that fact. It’s equally important to remember that it doesn’t have to be that way forever.

It’s making the first step toward what you deserve. It’s choosing that little bit of hope when you believe there’s nothing else left. It’s getting unstuck, inch by inch if that’s what it takes.